The recent Coronation Street storyline, involving parents Fiz and Tyrone Dobbs and their daughter Hope - who has been diagnosed with a tumour, raises the question of the extent to which a parent can request time off work to care for a sick child. Fiz approached her boss at the factory, who said that she could take as much time off as she liked in order to enable her to take her daughter for treatment. It is anticipated that this may be a long process.
There is no right for an employee to request paid time off to care for a sick child. However, a parent or person with responsibility for a child can take a total of up to 18 weeks unpaid parental leave for the purpose of caring a child. It is entirely at the employer’s discretion whether any part of this leave may be paid, but there is no right for an employee to be paid or have any expectation that they would be paid during such leave period. The right is a personal one and cannot be transferred from one parent to another and is completely separate from the recently introduced shared parental leave rights.
Since 5th April 2015, the leave can be taken in respect of a child up to the age of 18. The scope of “caring for a child” would appear to be fairly wide and the government gives the following examples of reasons for which leave might be taken in addition to caring for a sick child:
- Spending more time with children
- Looking at new schools
- Settling a child into new childcare arrangements
- Spending more time with family (eg visiting grandparents)
This right is in addition to reasonable unpaid time off to deal with an unexpected incident involving caring for a child or dependant.
To discuss any aspects of parental leave or employment law please call the employment law team on 0113 320 5000 or email employment@winstonsolicitors.co.uk.
